The last two years of the pandemic have shown us how ephemeral our plans are. If we don’t realize them right away, they can fizzle out forever.
The date suddenly has to be quarantined, you’ll see each other weeks later, maybe. The holiday country tightened the entry rules overnight, unpack your suitcase again. The birthday party can no longer be made up for, because you only turn 40 once. We Germans like to plan. The word “anticipation” does not exist in any other language. So we suddenly have to learn to live in the “now” and not to put off important things in front of us.
“Especially those who live in the capital city, who constantly live in the fast lane and believe that everything is possible at all times, are now realizing how much they have missed,” explains Berlin motivational coach Dr. Christian Weilmeier. There is a lot of catching up to do: as soon as you can, meet all your friends, take many vacationers in a row, celebrate afterward. “But you can’t just make up for the missed years, everything has its time. What we experience at 18, we no longer experience at 21.”
We can’t catch up
So now, when we hit the turbo and tick off a list of things we’ve missed like a robot, it only leads to disappointment. According to the expert, it would be better to learn from this period and change your attitude in the long term. To turn “do it later” into “do it now”. No more canceling things for trivial reasons. Action instead of brooding. No longer keeping everything open and then not realizing anything of it – and that is known to be the favorite pastime of Berliners.
Christian Weilmeier: “The lesson for us should be that we appreciate our opportunities more. People will have learned a lot in those two years. How important time, freedom and real encounters are. The negative sides are also included. Like stressful situations in the office, lovesickness or small disappointments on vacation.
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Because we also need that to feel alive. To tell a story later. A Netflix documentary on the sofa is not the same as a trip, a novel is not the real date.” And if we took even this realization with us, the pandemic was not wasted time.
And don’t wait for the end of the pandemic, but think about what you can do now and in Berlin – without endangering your health, of course. The following tips will help you make a decision.
Do it now or wait a bit? Five questions to ask yourself as a small decision-making aid
► Am I doing this for myself or to impress others? Only make your own dreams come true, everything else is crap.
► Do I put off my project because I think the timing is really bad or because I shy away from the effort? Because we’re good at disguising our laziness as serious concerns.
► Is it a matter of life or death? If not, loosen up a bit and just try it! It’s still better to fail than to be a “could-could-haves” person forever.
► Did I spend more time thinking about “doing it or not?” instead of doing it right away? Don’t ponder too long – especially when it comes to trivial decisions.
► Will I really have forever for this thing or is it a limited offer that I need to grab fast? Some opportunities never come again.